Gangs a concern for Jasper County law enforcement

Four local gangs have the potential to bring violence and crime that is consistent with their national counterparts, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.

Sheriff Greg Jenkins has asked for community participation as officials work to identify gang members and curtail their activity.

“We have a gang problem and we would like the community to be able to identify gang ‘tagging,’ markings, language and colors,” Jenkins said. “Gangs have gone throughout various areas of Jasper County defacing buildings, state property, road signs — and even the heavy equipment of a logging company in southern Jasper County — with gang signs. A recent fight at the Ridgeland-Hardeeville High School was gang-related. Parents need to be aware.”

The October fight resulted in six juvenile and three adult-aged students given charges ranging from simple assault and disorderly conduct to assault by a mob.

Sgt. Christopher Long of the S.C. Corrections Department, a member of the S.C. Gang Investigators Association, spoke to the Ridgeland-Hardeeville Parent-Teacher-Student Association on Nov. 21.

“Gangs use graffiti to mark their territory, to brag about their reputation, mourn fallen members and threaten or challenge rival gangs,” Long said. “There is a full-out gang war right now in Columbia. We had four people killed in Columbia last weekend. Sumter is the third most violent city in the nation.”

Recruiting children

Long said leaders use extreme deception to lure children into gangs.

“If a kid has a single mother that is struggling to make ends meet, the gang leader may tell him that they can help him earn money by selling drugs to help support the family,” Long said. “If his mother’s boyfriend beats her, then the gang can offer to protect the mother.”

The S.C. Gang Investigators Association website says a gang often meets needs that go unfulfilled in other areas of a young person’s life. The gang may provide a sense of security, loyalty, structure and discipline that may be missing at home.

Long said parents should talk to their children about gangs and how to avoid them.

Parents also are advised to get to know their children’s friends and their parents, to set firm limits with their children and teens and to plan family time.

Jenkins said he has hired a new officer who has extensive gang-related training. He said representatives from the Jasper County School District are expected to join law enforcement personnel for special gang training in Columbia in February.